A 16-year-old Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa settled his first-ever victory over World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in any form of chess in the 8th round of Airthings Masters.
It is an online rapid chess tournament. Praggnanandhaa won the tournament with black pieces to end Carlsen’s 3-match winning run at the Airthings Masters in only 19 moves in a Tarrasch variation game.
The Indian GM lies next in 12th spot after eight rounds with eight points. His splendid win over Carlsen hits after a moderate run in the earlier rounds.
The previous rounds included a solitary victory over Lev Aronian, with two draws and four defeats.
As reported by Chess24, on asking about what he will do to celebrate the brilliant victory over Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa said that it is just about going to bed.
The India GM, lost to Eric Hansen, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Jan-Kryzstof Duda and drew against Anish Giri, Quang Liem Le and Ding Liren.
Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi, also lost the World Championship match just few months ago to the Norwegian world no 1 Carlsen.
He is now on top of the standings with 19 points followed by Ding Liren and Hansen, both with 15 points.
In the Airthings Masters, a 16-player online rapid tournament, a player receives three points for a win and one for a draw in the preliminary rounds.
Seven more rounds remain in the preliminary phase. Carlsen clinched up three wins in a row as he luminously cranked up the gears.
But after coming across 16-year-old Praggnanandhaa, he blundered terribly, and the Indian star held firm to the win.
It was Praggnanandhaa’s first win in any form of chess against the Norwegian. He made a comeback by defeating Carlsen, after losing three games in a row.
Carlsen finished down in fifth position from 11th on the leader-board.
